healthcare in Canada is still pretty horrible, and over flooded. Having to wait ~10h in emergency because of a minor problem... might as well not go. (lived 10 years in Canada so I know!)
I'm not a huge fan of it either, but we certainly get more for our public dollar than the US does which was my point.
Generally the emergency room works on a triage process so going there with a minor issue means everyone with serious issues gets treated first.
If you want to go to the emerg room with a minor issue and get treated in a reasonable amount of time you may want to consider whether one of your symptoms is having trouble breathing. A quick run before going to the emerg if you're out of shape quite often produces this symptom.
